Long before kale was a super food, and a real hit in foodie land, we Dutch in the Netherlands used to eat it plenty during the winter months. We’d use it to make ‘boerenkoolstamppot’ which is essentially mashed potatoes, mixed through lightly cooked (or sometimes raw) kale, best eaten with …
It’s not easy to describe our Dutch cuisine. It’s a mix of many foods, with elements of Indonesian cooking, but especially a lot of simple foods. It’s worthwhile to share those with you, but not every Dutch food can be discussed in a very food sciency manner (as we like …
Some foods you will only eat at very specific times in the year. In the Netherlands this is the case for oliebollen (literally translated this means oil balls). You will eat plenty of them on New Year’s Eve, but apart from that day you will barely eat any. You might …
Before fridges and freezers were invented, we used other methods to keep our food good. Meats especially were vulnerable. Common ways to preserve meat included salting and drying. Another method, which might not immediately remind you of preservation, were pies. By incorporating meat in a sturdy pie, the meat would …
Whenever I somehow manage to gather an excess of apples in my fridge or want to bring a pie to celebrate a certain occasion, I tend to make apple pie. It’s that pie that nearly everyone likes, isn’t too hard to make and eats great with some whipped cream. So …
Another typical Dutch food as part of my Dutch food series are poffertjes. Poffertjes look like very small little pancakes, just a couple (maybe 5) cm in diameter! It seems as if these poffertjes were already eaten in country fairs about 300 years ago. Poffertjes can be found in most …
There are foods you only eat in certain times of the year. Brussel sprouts are typically a winter vegetable, whereas I link strawberries to summer. Another one of these is almond paste and breads filled with almond paste (in the Netherlands these are called ‘stol’ and I believe the UK …
There aren’t a lot of foods I would immediately call Dutch when someone asks me about Dutch food. Most problems I have are with proper meals, no lasagna (Italian) or paella (Spanish) type of dish for Dutch food as far as I know. When it comes to snacks though there …
As you might know, I like making pancakes. After making French crepes it’s now time to make typical Dutch pancakes. Dutch pancakes, in my opinion, are: large pancakes (one pancake should cover the complete surface of a plate), thicker than a crepe, but clearly thinner than American style pancakes. Dutch pancakes …
Only a very select few months (those before December) will you be able to find taaitaai in the stores. It’s a very seasonal sweet baked good, in between a cookie and a cake, with mixed in spices, mostly anise seeds. Taaitaai is a typical element of the Dutch ‘sinterklaas’ celebration …
